2011
Announcement 14th December: DEFRA gives green light to massacre badgers!
Culling, the only option available according to Caroline Spelman.
The Secretary of State presented mass slaughter as the only option available saying that approved vaccines were ‘years away’. This puts the government bang on course for a showdown with animal rights protestors all over the country. Her decision goes against a mountain of powerful scientific evidence that proves shooting badgers will have little impact in controlling TB among cattle herds. Not only that, it's also inhumane and not cost-effective. The decision gives a green light to the farming lobby for the slaughter of thousands of badgers. More in Campaign News to right.
2010
Naturewatch conducted a survey of Police Wildlife Officers across the country, with intriguing results that reflect the economic crisis, the introduction of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), the increased powers of arrest, and the success of Operation Easter. The purpose of our survey was to research how we should best use our resources to help bring badger persecution to an end, to ensure we adapt and evolve our campaign with the changing times.
In the past, Naturewatch has campaigned for the Home Office to make badger persecution recordable, as it seemed there was no other incentive for valuable police funds and resources to be made available to investigate severe wildlife crime. However, having collated our survey results, held meetings with Wildlife and Environmental Officers and representatives from the NWCU and Operation Meles, and spoken with David Cameron and the then, Conservative Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Grayling, we have made the decision to shift our campaign focus to increase community awareness about the changes to the police accountability scheme.
There are two reasons for our shift in direction:
1. The changing police accountability scheme that is moving away from government intervention, targets and bureaucracy.
2. The success of Operation Easter. Operation Easter is a UK- wide programme aiming to convict or deter main collectors of rare wild birds' eggs, and to achieve consistency in recording and reporting egg collecting offences. The operation involves every police force in the UK and has links with the NWCU, the UK border agency and the RSPB. This is a stunning example of how the police committed their expertise to tackle a particular criminal offence in a short period of time and have successfully made it socially unacceptable. This model is now being replicated to tackle badger crime under the guise of Operation Meles.
To download the results of our survey, please click
here.
2009
In view of the Home Office’s refusal to make badger crime a notifiable offence, Naturewatch has decided to lay the badger campaign dormant until the summer of 2010. The general election will provide a golden opportunity to highlight how the Labour government has failed to honour its promises in relation to animal welfare – the very promises that facilitated them in gaining their power in 1997.
2008
Following multiple attempts to contact Vernon Coaker earlier in the year (all of which were ignored), Naturewatch asked its supporters to write to the Home Office expressing their concerns with regard to the increase of badger crime in the UK and urge the Home Office to make badger cruelty a notifiable offence. As a result, the Home Office received thousands of letters.
In response, despite their reluctance to bring specific requests into effect, they did offer hope stating “the government fully shares your abhorrence of the cruel and barbaric practice of badger baiting, and wishes to ensure that appropriate action is taken to reduce its incidence and increase its detection.”
2007
In October, Naturewatch and Crimestoppers joined forces to tackle the issue of badger baiting / digging in the Cynon Valley in South Wales. As a result Crimestoppers has received a fantastic amount of good quality calls relating to badger crime, which the South Wales Police and National Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit are currently investigating. Early next year Naturewatch will meet with the Home Office Minister to discuss the results of the campaign, with the aim of making badger crime a notifiable offence, thereby ensuring it receives the police priority and resources it deserves. A mini website was launched for the duration of the Cynon Valley Campaign to ensure everyone had access to vital information, such as the profile of a typical badger baiter and how people could help the campaign.
The Cynon Valley initiative drew a great deal of media attention:
- Martin Thomas, Crimestoppers, launched a Crimestoppers appeal on ITV.
- BBC Radio Wales discussed our campaign on the Richard Evans show which inluded interviews and a phone in with Sgt Ian Guildford and the RSPCA’s Ian Briggs.
- BBC Wales supported the badger campaign by publishing 2 on-line articles: article 1 and article 2.
- The Cynon Valley Leader (local newspaper) also reported our story, making front page news!
- Media coverage of the campaign continued into the first few months of 2008.
Since the Naturewatch Badger Campaign was first launched in 2003, the main aims have been:
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To see Badger Crime made a notifiable offence for the purpose of inclusion in offical crime statistics;
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To strengthen the enforcement of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, thereby ensuring proactive measures can be taken by the police against those suspected of offences;
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To see a full-time wildlife crime officer (WLCO) appointed to all police forces and for part-time WLCO's to be be given a specific time allocation and budget.
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Click here to read a summary of our campaigning activities on this issue prior to 2007.
Click here to view our Badger Crime Image Gallery.